Why We Need An Override

This is no ordinary budget crisis. We are facing the largest budget shortfall ever. We are in the middle of a worldwide economic recession unlike anything we've seen since the Great Depression. Calling for an override when times are so tough is difficult, but it is necessary. Without it, we not only compromise our safety and our children's future, we risk making our local economic condition even worse and the road to recovery even longer.

In this web page, we will try to address what the override is and why it is necessary. This includes sections on the budget shortfall, on what an override is, on why no other solutions can alone solve the shortfall, on what we will lose, if we lose, and on why closing an elementary school is not an option. Finally, there is a section on myths and facts about the override, which we hope will address any concerns and arguments being made against it. If you believe there is anything missing, if you have concerns or have heard arguments against the override that we are not addressing, please let us know, so we can address it here.

The Budget Shortfall

Northampton faces an unprecedented $6 million budget gap this year. The school district's budget gap comprises slightly less than $3 million of that amount. The economic downturn and skyrocketing health insurance costs have everything to do with it. The bigger revenue squeezing items include: State aid is down by $1.5 million. Motor vehicle excise taxes and interest income are down almost $500,000. At the same time, health insurance costs are up close to $2 million. You can see precisely how it all adds up on the city's website.

What We Will Lose, If We Lose

The good news is that worst case scenario -- failure to close any of the $6 million gap -- is not likely to happen.  There are several things still in flux (more below under "other solutions"), some of which could become resources for additional revenues.  However, with a budget gap this large, no matter what other revenue is realized, the $2 million raised through an override is critical to avoiding devastating cuts. We present the consequences of a $6 million gap to help us all understand the depth of this crisis, what's at stake and how far we have to go to avoid the worst.

• 25 fewer public safety officers, increasing the threat to our personal safety in the following ways:
• The Florence Fire Station will be closed the vast majority of the time.
• Fire Department will suffer a total staff reduction of 14 firefighters with 9 lay-offs and 5 positions remaining unfilled.
• Fire Department response time will increase, especially to the remote areas of Northampton..
• The Police Department will lose 11 full-time officers, reducing each patrol shift by one-third.
• The Police Department will have only four, one officer cruisers for the entire city of Northampton.
• The threat to both the public, police officers and firefighters will increase since emergency calls are already "stacked" for later responses and often one police officer is available to respond to a call that mandates two or more.
• 48 fewer teachers in our public school system, resulting in class sizes of up to 45 children at all levels.
• The elimination of school bus transportation for all 7th & 8th grade and high school students.
• The elimination of band at the high school and the elimination of band, chorus and swimming at the middle school.
• The elimination of all school athletics without private pay.
• 9 fewer public workers responsible for repairing and plowing our roads.
• The Department of Public Works would no longer maintain sports fields, which includes mowing and other upkeep. Activities at these fields would be severely reduced unless private leagues take over the task. Additionally, other recreational programs for children and adults that take place on these fields might also be reduced.
• The number of streetlights across the city would be reduces by 25%.
• The closing of our public libraries on Saturdays and reduced weekday hours.
• City Hall will close earlier, reduce walk-in hours, and no longer process passport applications.
• Longer waits would be likely for zoning enforcement and public health complaints. These include a wide range of complaints such as junk vehicles on a property owner's lawn or nuisances such as odors, noise and excessive filth.
• Road repair and shade tree-trimming requests will take longer to accomplish.
• Fewer programs would be available for senior citizens.

The impact on the quality of public education in Northampton cannot be captured in a single figure. The cuts currently on the table would require significant restructuring of how and what our kids are taught in the middle and high schools, seriously compromising their learning and their future.

The budget gap also has serious implication for public safety, with fewer police, fewer fireman and emergency rescue workers, and longer delays in repairing and paving roads. This inevitably will result in an increase in crime or more crimes left unsolved, an increase in fire damage or inability to rescue someone in an emergency situation in time, and more damage to cars and winter related accidents. You cannot make cuts as deep as these without seeing an effect.

In addition, with larger class sizes, fewer schools and weakened public safety, we can also expect to see a drop in home values. Right now Northampton is seen as desirable place to live, but with cuts as big as these, we should recognize that we will all see a decline in our home equity. A decline that, in itself, could lower revenue and cause even more crises down the line. Eventually, a weakened fire and police department could also result in higher home and auto insurance for residents of Northampton.

Other Solutions Alone Are Not Enough

What about the federal stimulus? The meals tax? Health insurance savings? Wage freezes?

Looking at all of these revenue sources, they don't come close to closing the gap without an override. Here's what they offer:

• The federal stimulus: Right now, Northampton is slated to receive close to over $500,000 in stimulus funds that are designated exclusively for special education and Title 1 (math and reading assistance for income-eligible children). As it is presently configured, none of this money will address our present school budget shortfall. We must all continue to advocate for more from the Governor, but right now this is all we've got.
• Local option meals tax: This requires state legislative authority and it is hopeful but still uncertain whether it will be passed. Our state legislators, Representative Peter Kocot and Senator Stan Rosenberg, are hard at work to win this legislation. If passed and enacted by the city council, the meals tax would raise roughly $250,000 (and likely less in view of the decline in people dining out during these hard times). Less likely is the passage of a statewide 1% meals tax (would raise $520,000) or 1% hotel tax ($100,000).
• A new, cheaper health insurance provider: The city has a couple of proposals on the table that could save significant dollars. The city is working hard with the unions on this issue, but it's impossible right now to attach even a rough savings estimate.
• Wage freezes: All non-union city employees have already agreed to a wage freeze. Union employees are facing extremely difficult decisions. If every union agreed to complete wage freeze, the maximum savings in this arena would total around one million dollars.

In the best case scenario, assuming all the possible revenue sources and savings materialize, we would close our budget gap by less than $3 million. That leaves another $3 million to go. We need the override no matter what happens.

Why Closing an Elementary School Is Not an Option

Closing an elementary school is a permanent decision. It cannot be done quickly or in the heat of a crisis. An entire community of children, teachers, staff and parents is at stake, both within a particular school district and for the city as a whole. A decision of this magnitude requires comprehensive study and discussion in an inclusive process. This has not yet occurred in Northampton, and we should not proceed without it.

While the savings over time would be significant (estimates of $250,000-$400,000/year), the first year savings would not rise beyond $200,000 due to unemployment and moving costs. We need a better study of the facts -- school enrollment analysis both past and future and the consequences to the entire district in terms of quality education -- before we take such drastic action.

If the student population should happen to increase -- a scenario that has happened in the past and could easily happen again -- then closing a school will require us to build a new school (as the closed school would not longer be up to code and could not be re-opened. Up to this year, public school enrollment has been flat -- not down as some have claimed -- it has been flat. Evidence this year suggests, enrollment may be on the rise.

Closing a school at this time and in this manner, without very careful study, is not sound fiscal or educational policy.

What Is an Override?

Proposition 2 1/2, passed by ballot initiative in 1980, is a state law that limits annual increases in a community's property tax revenue to 2.5 percent. The law requires that anything larger should go before the public as a referendum. In other states, such as New York or Connecticut, there are no similar requirements. When towns face a serious budget shortfall, the elected leaders find a way to solve it through budget cuts and, if necessary a tax increase. The law was designed to give voters a voice, it was not designed to prevent a town from every addressing increases when they were needed.

Northampton has not approved an override in 20 years, which is why it is slipping behind many communities. But passing an override in most places has not been as rare as it has been in Northampton. There have been a total of 1,800 successful overrides in 254 cities and towns have had successful override campaigns in Massachusetts. Those that have not tended to have overrides are larger cities that can more easily find alternative means to raising revenue or very poor communities that get a lot of their funds from the federal or state government (e.g., Boston, Pittsfield, Fall River, New Bedford, Chelsea, or Chicopee. All of Northampton's neighboring communities have had multiple successful overrides.

An override is something that happens all of the time, when the times call for. In 20 years of never having approved an override, at a time of economic downturn and a budget gap than cannot be just cut away with serious damage, the time is right in Northampton.

To learn more about Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, click here.

Myths & Facts

We will be constantly updating this section as arguments arise over the course of the campaign.

Myth: A tax increase will drive seniors on fixed incomes from their homes.

Fact: The increase being asked for is fairly modest in scale. A senior of fixed income living in a home assessed at $200,000 will only being paying an additional 34 cents a day. After income tax deductions, the increase will actually only add up to 25 cents a day. Furthermore, in Massachusetts there are a number of programs available to assist seniors on fixed incomes from being forced from their homes because of high property tax. For example, the Senior Circuit breaker, for instance, gives rebates to seniors who pay more than 10% of their income on property tax, water and sewer. Any senior that falls under this program will not be affected by the increase in the override -- the state will make up for the entire increase in property taxes. In addition, Northampton has tax exemptions of $500 for homeowner over 70 years with limited incomes and $175 for widows and widowers or for seniors over 70 without income limittions (these are the maximum exemptions a town can offer under state law). There are even more state and local property tax rebates, exemptions, and deferrals available for veterans, disabled, and seniors. We take seriously the impact of property taxes on seniors with fixed incomes, but we believe given these exemptions and programs it is not a valid argument to suggest that this override will drive anyone from their homes.

Myth: The last time there was an override campaign, supporters claimed that the world would end if it did not pass. It didn't pass and the world did not end. This time is more of the same.

Fact: The last time there was an override vote, the public schools faced a $1 million budget shortfall. At the time supporters of the override said that if it did not pass there would be loss and greater costs down the line. It is true, by just seven votes, the override did not pass. And it is true that we have suffered loss and costs as a result. For two years, there have been threats of closing on of our four elementary schools, when it was not all that long ago that Northampton had six schools. Every year, the schools have had to make do with a $1 million dollar structural deficit. Every Spring scores of teachers are laid off, as the schools struggle to find shortcuts and jerry-rigged solutions to bridge that deficit. Some of those teachers have been let go and some positions have not been filled. The quality of our schools, and our children's education, has suffered for it. However, more importantly, we have never been able to solve that structural deficit. The $3 million shortfall that public schools are suffering today is in part a result of that failed override vote. Our schools have been cut and cut, and the problem we face has only gotten more and more expensive. If we do not solve the problem this time, we will not only do serious harm to out public schools, our city services, and our public safety, but will guarantee ourselves that we will face a more expensive and more disastrous problem down the road. We need to step up and solve this problem now.

Myth: Financially our city is poorly run with a lot of waste, fraud, and needless luxury in our budget.

Fact: Show us the waste. Northampton is known as a good government city. As proof that Northampton is well run financially, we have a bond rating (A1) that is superior to all of our bordering towns. Of course the Massachusetts towns that have the highest ratings (AAA) are all towns that have passed the most and much more expensive overrides. You do not get high bond ratings when you are constantly running structural deficits. Towns that get high bond ratings are the ones that quickly address those deficits with overrides. This is another example of ways in which not approving an override can cost taxpayers more in the long run. With lower bond ratings, it costs Northampton more to borrow money than communities with higher ratings. It is a testament to how well Northampton is run financially that we have as high a rating as we do. However, if we allow structural deficits to fester and address budget shortfall by cutting away vital city services, we can expect to see declining bond ratings. We can be more like the troubled second-tiered cities in Massachusetts with ratings so low that they simply cannot afford to issue bonds.